Local unemployment falls from year-earlier level

The Capital Region’s jobless rate in July stood at 6.4 percent of the workforce, down one and a half percentage points from year-earlier levels and unchanged from June’s rate. It was also the lowest rate for the month in five years.

The state Labor Department reported that the number of unemployed Capital Region residents stood at 29,100, down from 35,800 a year ago but up 200 from June’s figure.

The neighboring Glens Falls metro area saw unemployment fall to 6.1 percent from 7.3 percent in July 2012 and 6.3 percent in June. The figures aren’t adjusted to account for seasonal changes.

Upstate unemployment rates ranged from a high of 7.9 percent in Elmira to a low of 5.6 percent in Ithaca. Downstate rates ranged from 8.7 percent in New York City to 6.2 percent on Long Island and in the Putnam-Rockland-Westchester region.

Last week the Labor Department reported that the five-county Capital Region added 4,300 jobs over the past year, 3,500 of them in the private sector.